WATT POULTRY USA ❙ 13
ture couldn't be in starker contrast. As 3 billion people struggle to move
into the middle class in emerging economies of the world, the demand
for animal proteins- meat, poultry and milk-is rising. What's more,
hidden hunger in developed economies, including the U.S. and Europe,
affects between 25 percent and 40 percent of people. Poultry producers recognize that they will need to help double food production while
keeping the environmental footprint the same as today.
Activism by food producers necessary
Elanco President Jeff Simmons, whose company is a division of Eli
Lilly & Company, is one of the voices urging activism in food production
agriculture. Speaking at the National Turkey Federation convention, he
described a turning point in his perspective, which occurred during his
participation in Harvard's Private and Public Scientific and Academic
Consumer Policy Group.
the
In the year 2050,
ill
world population w
ore
need 100 percent m
d
food than is produce
today.
"I had a bell-ringing moment sitting in a meeting
room with about 200 people, over half of whom were not supportive of
traditional agriculture. A lot of people in the room did not think that
eating meat was a good thing. Looking around the room I realized that
they had something that I did not have. The issue for them was very
personal. It is something they will speak out about, even when they
don't have a lot of information. They are convicted and believe that
their voice matters and that they can have an influence.
"I am in a position, like all of you, to speak out, and it is time to
speak out," he said. "We are at an important stage in what is the most
critical issue in the next 50 years-producing safe, abundant, affordable food."
Technology helps close productivity gap in food
production
Simmons pointed to the conclusions of public authorities, including the World Health Organization and the Gates Foundation,
that efficiency-enhancing technologies are essential to meeting
the world's future food needs. "It comes back to farms all over the
world. We need to increase their productivity. Technology leads to
efficiency, which leads to affordability, which reduces poverty and
allows more people to come to the table," he said. He quoted Bill
Gates who wrote in the Gates Foundation newsletter, "When farmers increase their productivity, nutrition is improved and hunger and
poverty are reduced."
June 2012 ❙ www.WATTAgNet.com
Moving into the middle class
"Three billion people are trying to move into the middle class in
emerging economies, driving an increased demand for meat. It isn't
our job to determine for 3 billion people who are living on grass and
vegetables and rice today that their desire is to get their child an egg
or a piece of meat or a glass of milk. It is our job to deliver on this
demand. Yes, there is an economic opportunity, but there is a bigger
moral responsibility."
Simmons pointed to China as an example of a developing economy
where people have aspirations for better diets. Like in other developing
countries, China wants more animal proteins. Dairy products are just
one example. It would take four more U.S. dairy industries to provide
the Chinese with half as much calcium as Americans consume.
Technology enables three food rights
"Sometimes, the issues of hunger and food affordability get shoved
under the rug. I think this is an opportunity to bring them out. And it
is critical that we do so," he said.
"Today, the consumer corner is where the best traction is gained
for the importance of having safe, affordable, abundant food and for
the importance of the role of technology in achieving those goals,"
he added.
He said access to safe, proven, efficiency-enhancing technology
enables three rights:
1. Food: A basic human right
2. Choice: A consumer right
3. Sustainability: Environmentally right
Getting outside the science corner in
the food debate
More than sound reasoning and science will be needed to defend
food production and the technologies needed to meet the hunger
challenge. Poultry producers must join with other food producers in
debating aspects that many have avoided discussing in the past. These
include the economic, environmental, moral and consumer dimensions,
as well as science.
"In 21 years working at Elanco, I was told that we need to stay in the
science corner. But there are four other corners of the debate. I believe
we have to get out of our comfortable corner, and go to all five corners,"
Simmons said. "The moral and human aspects are real," he continued.
more: Will fringe groups decide the future of
➚Read
agriculture? www.WATTAgNet.com/148689.html
"Hunger is the world's number one health problem. It kills more people
than war, AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined, resulting in about
25,000 deaths per day.
"It's our job to produce affordable food in an environmentally
friendly way with the same amount of resources being used today."

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